London in 1856 is gripped by a frightening obsession. The specimen-collecting craze is growing, and discoveries in far-off jungles are reshaping the known world. And when glamorous Lady Bessingham is found murdered, surrounded by her vast collection, Adolphus Hatton and his morgue assistant Albert Roumonde - the best in the new and suspicious world of forensics and autopsy - are called in to examine the crime scene.